Vehicle-body



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ATTOHIIVEYJ.

(No Model.)

L. A. MELBURN.

VEHICLE BODY.

No. 401,847. Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAFAYETTE A. MELBURN, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

VEHICLE-BODY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,847, dated. April 23, 1889.

Application filed February 8, 1889. Serial No. 299,113. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAFAYETTE A. MEL BURN, of Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improved buggybody, seeking to provide a simple construction of the body, whereby to prevent the opening of the corners, to avoid the use of plugs, &c., in the outside of the panels, and to secure the seat-posts to the panels in a novel simple manner, all of which will be described.

The invention consists in certain novel constructions and combinations of parts, as will be described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom plan view, and Fig. 2 a partial top view, of the body, the bottom being removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on about line 00 cc, Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a detail view illustrating the corner joint of the panels. Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the corner portions of the sills and panels, and Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating the manner of securing the seat-posts in position.

The side panels, A, and end panels, B, have their meeting ends formed with dovetail grooves a and ribs 1), fitted. together and held in engagement by pins 0, passed into openings or sockets formed partially in each of the said panels A B, so the pins will serve to prevent the detachment of the panels in one direction, and the rib Z) in groove a will serve to prevent their detachment in the other direction, thus serving to preserve a close neat joint, as will be understood from Fig. 4.

The sills D are secured to the inner sides of the panels at or near the lower edges thereof, being secured. thereto by screws E, passed from the inside through the sills into the panels, and the side panels being rabbeted at d to receive the boards which form the bottom of the body. By passing the screws from the inside into the panels I avoid the use of plugs, &c., to cover the heads of the screws, as required when the screws are driven through the panels.

It will be seen that openings or recesses are provided at F between the corners of the panels and the corners of the sills, thus permitting the sills to swell without opening the corners or joints of the panels. This re cess is preferably secured by cutting away portions of the sills from the outer sides of same at their ends, as will. be understood from Fig. 5. By the construction of said sills as shown they are arranged at their ends clear of the panels.

The seat-posts G fit in dovetail or undercut grooves g, formed in the inner faces of the side panels, and thus are secured in position without the passing of screws through the panels.

By the construction of the corner joints of the panels as described I avoid the use of the ordinary corner-posts, which in practice lie crosswise the grain and act in a measure to prevent the panels from expanding or contracting, as the posts will not shrink endwise, and the panels, being glued and screwed to the posts, are very often caused to break .or open at the screws or brads.

The securing of the sills and seatposts as described avoids the driving of screws from the outside through the panels and the consequent use of filling-plugs, 8m, to cover the heads of the said screws.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. A vehicle-body having its panels formed at their meeting ends with dovetail grooves and ribs, combined with fastening-pins en.- gaging both said panels at their juncture, substantially as set forth.

2. A vehicle-body comprising the panels and the sills secured thereto, the said sills having their ends or corners separated from the corners of the panels, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a vehicle-body, of the panels and the sills secured thereto, a recess or opening being formed between the corners of the sills and the panels, substantially as set forth.

4. A vehicle-body comprising panels, the sills separated at their corners from the corners of the panels, and the fasteningscrews passed from the inner side through the sills into the panels, substantially as set forth.

5. A vehicle-body having its panels provided in their inner sides with dovetail or undercut grooves, and having its seat-posts fitted to said grooves, substantially as set forth.

6. The improved vehicle-body herein dener sides of the panels, recesses being formed scribed. consisting of the panels having their between the joints of the sill and of the pan- 10 meeting ends formed with dovetail grooves els, substantially as set forth.

and ribs, and having pins driven partially in T r 5 each of the panels at their joints, and such LAFAXEPTE MELBURN panels having dovetail grooves fitted to re- Witnesses: ceive the seat-posts, the seat-posts fitted in GEoG. MOCARTNEY, said grooves, and the sills secured to the in- WM. G. EVANS. 

